The Assassination of Al Tigani Adam Sabi, the Chief Prosecutor is a Crime Threatening the Independence of the Judiciary in Sudan
Press Release
August 23, 2025
The Sudanese Human Rights Monitor (SHRM) expresses its deep concern over the assassination of the Chief Prosecutor of North Kordofan State, Al Tigani Adam Sabi, on Saturday, 16 August 2025, at his home in Al Mudiriya neighborhood of El Obeid.
In recent days, Sudanese citizens have been shocked by the killings of elderly people and children، acts that amount to war crimes، following armed clashes in El Fasher and Kordofan battlefields. These atrocities have been committed in full impunity, despite repeated promises by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leadership to investigate. Other crimes that claimed the lives of citizens in Atbara and Khartoum also remain without accountability.
This heinous assassination represents a direct assault on the principle of the rule of law. It perpetuates intimidation at a time when Sudan’s justice institutions are collapsing, further eroded by interference from executive authorities and security services، failures rooted both in the current war and in legacies from the Al Bashir era.
SHRM strongly condemns this crime and stresses that targeting judges and prosecutors threatens the independence of the judiciary itself. According to a statement from the Public Prosecution, Al Tigani was known as a man of integrity and dedication. Multiple sources in El Obeid confirm that he had been working to secure the release of detainees held without sufficient evidence by security authorities.
The authorities must clarify the motives behind Al Tigani’s killing and reveal the identities of his assassins. In El Obeid, which struggles with a prolonged RSF siege marked by countryside atrocities, and where SAF Security Cell operates with unchecked powers of arrest and is accused of torture and cruel treatment, the prosecutor’s assassination sends a clear message: that even those charged with upholding justice are not safe. This threatens to erode the little public confidence that remains in the judiciary.
The circumstances surrounding this crime also raise troubling questions among citizens, given that it occurred in an area under heavy security, home to prominent figures and government institutions, including the Governor’s residence. The fact that armed men could penetrate this zone, carry out the killing, and escape unchallenged, raises grave suspicions of official complicity or gross negligence.
SHRM calls on the prosecution authorities to carry out an independent and transparent investigation into the assassination, make its findings public, bring the perpetrators to fair and open trial, and guarantee protection for all members of the judiciary while ensuring their independence from any political or security interference.
We also reiterate our October 2024 call on the leadership of the SAF to restructure recruitment processes under the direct authority of the SAF, in line with international law, SAF Law, and the commander’s recent decisions requiring all armed personnel to fall under central army command. The alternative fragmented militias only fuels weapons proliferation, escalates violence against civilians, and turns the right to self-defense into a pretext for murder.
SHRM will continue to follow this case until the truth is revealed, and the perpetrators are held accountable. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased, to his colleagues, and to the people of El Obeid. We reaffirm our full solidarity with the judiciary and the Public Prosecution to promote and strengthen integrity and preserve independence.
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